welcome to al jazeera. i am del walters in new york. these are your headlights lines at this hour. >> because we think congress should be a full partner and when they are, we are stronger as a country. >> the white house pressing congress for a "yes" vote on syria. these are real human beings, real children, parents, being affected in ways that are unacceptable to anybody anywhere by any standards. >> secretary of state, john kerry backing the posting of this video of a gas attack as he announces more international support for u.s. efforts there. and kickoff in just two hours. the n.f.l. taking to the field starting a brand-new football

season. [ music ] >> overseas and here at home, the white house is now building its case for international action on syria. secretary of state john kerry is in paris trying to convince a skeptical international community to support military intervention there. he says, though, momentum is building. >> meanwhile, in washington, congress returns tomorrow and president obama goes on a media blitz after a series of high-profile interviews, he will address the nation in prime time on tuesday night. the president pushing for more support for his plan to strike syria. we are following the story with our live team coverage. phil ittner is in london watching developments overseas but we will begin with paul beban in washington. paul, do you have a sense where congress stands right now if the vote were to happen today?

>> well, good morning, del. right now, the numbers in congress are not very good. >> that's why, as you pointed out, the white house and the administration are really ramping up this media blitz, trying to change the tide of public opinion. they are urging congress to watch these videos that have been released by the senate intelligence committee and dennis m cd unna made the sunday show sweep making his case to congress and the public. >> i have been talking to dozens of members of congress, not a single one of them so far has rebutted or refused the intelligence, which is to say everybody agrees that on august 21st, assad used quemcal weapons against his own people. so the question for congress this week is a very simple one: should there be consequences for his having used gasses, chemical weapons to kill more than a thousand of his own people, including more than 400 children? >> del, this is shaping up really as the most intention

lobbying campaign of the obama presidency, just wall to wall bri briefings, meetings, dozens of phone calls to members on both sides of the aisle as well as of course the big white house address coming up on tuesday knighted after congress comes into session tomorrow. >> the polls seem to get rich. various have been polling congress to see where they stand. looking at the numbers alone, are there a lot of people who can be won over by the president who are now undecided? >> reporter: that undecided column is large, both in the house and the senate, but on the other side of the coins, the already committed to "no" side is equally big, particularly in the house. the senate is where it looks like the president has the best chance of making his case, and they are still saying they haven't even begun really in earnest to win members of congress. we will see what happens in the next couple of days but the numbers right now in those polls that you mentioned are not

looking very good. >> paul beban joining us from washington. paul, thank you very much. meanwhile, syria's page number bashar al-assad told cbs news he was not behind any chemical weapons attack in syria. it is his first american interview with an american television network in nearly two years. he suggested rebels would use them and there would be a retaliation for any international attack on syria. john kerry is currently in peras as trying to build -- paris and he met with arab foreign ministers. more countries are on board agreeing with a strong international response in the quote double digits" but that has not been made public. >> we discuss the possible and necessary me yours the international community can take to deter assad from ever crossing that line again and a number of countries immediately signed on to the g20 agreement

that was reached by now 12 countries on the side of the -- on the side of the g20 meeting. and they will make theirina announcementsments in the next 24 hours about that. >> and for the latest now on the international efforts, we turn to phil ittner. phil, there are now questions about just how many countries are supporting strikes in syria >> reporter: well, del, that's right. the exact number and who is on that list supporting the strike in syria has not been released. you know, but senator -- secretary of state kerry did get the 28 members of the eu to sign a statement blaming the assad regime and calling for some sort of response in a unified international way. >> that's 28 nations right there, not necessarily meaning a military strike, but it is interesting to see that the

europeans are speaking in one unified voice. we are hearing out of paris that the arab league has actually agreed that, again, it was the assad regime who was behind those attacks on the 21st of august and senator -- or secretary of state kerry did say that it is no intention to wade into the civil war. this is about chemical weapons. this is about punishing the use of chemical we hopes and the -- weapons and the secretary saying that ultimately, there will need to be a political solution in syria. del? >> phil, because the british parliament has already vetoed any military action by the u.k., what does secretary kerry hope to accomplish in london when he travels there tomorrow? >> well, that's right. his next stop is here in the u.k. he will be meeting with the government of david cameron, which has been widely hawkish on this issue.

they do support some sort of military strike against the assad regime but they lost that vote in the house of commons. publically, though, prime minister cameron is saying he supports a white house plan to strike syria. william hague has been saying some very hawkish things but the brits are not going to be contributing any kind of military assets to a possible strike. they do say, however, they are going to increase humanitarian aid going to provided chemical weapons medicine for those struck by any kind of chemical strike and in addition to that, there is the potential that they will contribute military intelligence, intelligence gathering in eastern med tr mediterranean but they support the white house plan. >> phil itner joining us live from london. to discuss secretary carriry's meeting we are joined by dr. james boyce, a senior research fellow in london.

thank you for being with us. i begin with this: we live in a microwave society. one day, the president appears to be gaining ground. the next day, he is losing that ground. with that as a backdrop, does a diplomatic solution to the crisis in syria appear to be a moot point? >> reporter: well, what you have seen is secretary of state kerry come over to europe after his efforts on the hill last week to try and convince senators and members of the house of the virtue of the white house plan. and one of the great problems, i think, is that it's all well and good for john kerry to talk about the acceptance of the international community to the fact that the assad regime was behind these attacks but what he cannot go beyond that and say, and, therefore, they agree we should all be committing strikes against syria, that's a wide leap and at the moment, there are very few nations jumping to that point. >> what about the arab league? will they back military action? and if not, what does kerry hope to gain from those nations?

>> well, this is the great interest. he's in paris today and i believe that the original hope was that the arab league would issue sort of a similar plea that they did over libya. you may recall that the reasons that the west was able to intervene in libya was because there was a sense that we had been invited by the arab league. in fact, the exact opposite has happened today. you have seen members of the arab league saying actually any intervention in syria would need to come through the u.n., which we all know, of course, won't happen because of the russian veto. >> and one of the other questions that i have to ask you see is: sometimes people say: is there a plan b? is there a back doorway diplomatically for the obama administration to force the u.n. to do something? >> it's very difficult to see how the u.n. is going to be used here clearly, the security council is a non-starter. there is the opportunity to use something called "r2p,

responsibility to protect which would appear to give nations the responsibility to intervene in humanitarian disaster. but, of course, you have to want to do that. at the moment, there is no political will to use the u.n. for that matter. the challenge for obama is what happens if the senate and the house reject his attempts to get approval. will he act militarily independent of the coming vote in congress? >> dr. james boys, thank you for being with us, a senior research fellow in king's college in london. as always, we wish to remind you that you can get the latest on syria by going to aljazeera.com. japan is going to be hosting the 2020 summey olympic games, tokyo beating outistanbul and mad drouth. the announcement was met with jubilation in japan. >> these -college games are co

incidentalsly being held on the weekend japan found out they will host the 2020 olympics. they lit a flame. somewhere in this crowd could be a future olympian compete okay home ground in seven years. >> i was so glad tokyo won. i will try to do my best because i want to represent japan in the marathon. >> in 2020, i will be 28. it will be a good age to compete in diskus. >> this was tokyo's moment >> the international olympic committee has thehon of announcesing the games in 2020 are awarded to the city of: tokyo. >> here is what helped tokyo win: superior infrastructure.

japan's public transport system is world-class and dependable. it's hosted big sporting events before and has several facilities already in place. one of them is the national stadium where the 1964 opening ceremony was held. it's set to undergo a billion dollar refurbishment. this is known for its low crime rate. tokyo's campaign spa emphasized reliability and safety. safety has been put in doubt by japan's nuclear crisis. the fukushima plant crippled in 2011 is leaking radiation. government officials spent last week trying to reassure the international community that the situation would be under control by 2020. the prime minister left the g20 meeting russia early to fly to bo beunas aires. >> many have concerns about fukushima. let me assure you that the

situation is under control. >> that strategy appears to have helped. so, tokyo will have the honor of hosting the olympics joining a list of only four other cities. the government says it will not only be a boost to the economy but will help inspire a nation that's had to deal with an earthquake a tsunami and a nuclear disaster. florence wen, tokyo. >> we discuss the enemy of education in afghanistan. violence top, the list. teachers are forced to deal with a host of other problems that prevent a positive learning environment. practice is over. it is time to hit the field. the n.f.l. season opens today. we have heat, humidity plus storms across the nation. a look at the radar coming up with the national forecast.

[[voiceover]] every day, events sweep across our country. and with them, a storm of views. how can you fully understand the impact unless you've heard angles you hadn't considered? antonio mora brings you smart conversation that challenges the status quo with unexpected opinions and a fresh outlook. including yours.

welcome back to al jazeera. i am del walters. secretary of state john kerry is saying more world leaders are backing the u.s. efforts to strike syria. the president set to address the american public on tuesday to again state his case for action. for more on syria's world, al jazeera sat down with former congressman and presidential candidate ron paul. here is a sneak peek of that interview. >> what would be your line in syria? is there a moment where the united states has a responsibility to protect, to go abroad to help people who are in crisis and being killed by their own government >> yes. if any country including syria, if they attack the united states, you know, under attack, you know, threatened us and came and bombed us or sent a drone

missile over here or something, you know, that might qualify as a requirement to retaliate but under today's circumstances, i can't imagine any moral justification for us getting involved in another war because it's been morally unjustified for the involvement that we have had already. it certainly isn't authorized under the constitution that we should be the policemen of the world, that we should be involved in these internal fights, picking and choosing in these civil wars going on. in a moral sense, it makes no constitutional sense. >> to see the complete interview, we invite you to tune in toaj tonights. that begins at 10:30 p.m. eastern time. >> classrooms with no windows, no roofs and no protection from the elements at all, that sadly is the reality for thousands of afghan children. jennifer glass has more on how afghan leaders are trying to improve education >> reporter: this is one of afghanistan's model schools in

an upscale neighborhood of kabul. girls study and virtually all will graduate the 12th grade. that's not how it is everywhere. in the village of pastoon, less than a third of teachers have official qualifications. in gazni in eastern afghanistan, there is a lock on the school door. >> the taliban closed the school two years ago. they said it's because girls should not be in school. >> 34 schools are closed across the proof ince and the students and staff are under threat. >> there have been recent incidents where teachers were affected by bombings, explosions, where some of our students have been killed in the crossfire between the opposition and government forces >> reporter: that's a problem educators are having all over the country. >> we have more than 100 killed

in the -- this year by the enemy of education >> reporter: it's not just security that hinders education here there are budget problems and corruption. >> even here in kabul, there are schools in terrible condition. these were supposed to be brand-new classrooms funded by the world bank, but the private company that was supposed to build them ran away with the money. >> reporter: 2000 children are study in classrooms are no windows or roof. when it rains, teaching stops and there is no protection from the heat or cold. the midge industry of education says the contracted company should come back and finish what it abandoned years ago. afghanistan hopes by 2020, all afghan children will be able to complete school. there is still a lot to be done to make that happen. jennifer glass, al jazeera, kabul.

a look at the western states, rain coming in from the south going over the same area, caused flooding in utah yesterday, now showers and storms moving through north and south dakota. flash flood potential is there. all of this going around is very hot air mass, creating heat index over 100 disease as temperatures climb from the 70s into the 90s easily with high humidity, it should feel like over 100 degrees with the heat index. it's cooler in the northeast. temperatures are dropping a bit. we get the showers and storms causing flooding over the midwest with flash flood potential there, flash flood washes and warnings, a little bit cooler the farther east over heavy rain over minnesota clouds are moving out. temperatures are dropping. it will really drop overnight tonight, though, by tomorrow morning, could see frost with frost advisories in effect.

does not mean the temperatures will drop down to the freezing mark. they could be in the 30s. this is the low temperature predicted by tomorrow morning. could see some frost around. it will be cool tomorrow but really start to warm up over the next few days. temperatures back into the 80s here by the middle of the week. del? >> dave, thank you very much. here is something to think about. i with a is thinking about granting gun permits to people who are legally or completely blind. state law doesn't allow a resident to be denied the right to carry a weapon based upon a physical ability. advocates for the disabled say forbidding the blind from having guns would violate the americans with disabilities act. local law enforcement says it is a bad idea. neither rain nor hail can cost the u.s. postal service but what about a storm of red ink? the agency saying it lost $740 million during the last fiscal year along. the postal service has been in debt for years. to cut costs, it is looking at a proposal to end door to door

deliveries. co ing up, the new frontier of nano technology, mind-blowing advances that could change some every day products. that's all i have an real money. victoria azarenko

syria dominating the sunday morning talk show circuit today. the white house chief of staff dennis mcdunna urging lawmakers to take a hard look at recent video of that alleged chemical attack before they make their final decisions and cast their votes. secretary of state john kerry meeting with world leaders in paris. kerry saying the number of countries in favor of the strikes is now growing. are you ready for some football? the first sunday of the n.f.l. season, 26 teams going head to head with new safety measures. this following that $765 million settlement by the league over its concussion lawsuit with its former players. well, in week one, we have seen a record-setting performance and pretty bad injuries. what about the first sunday of the regular season? mark morgan is live in the meadowlands for the jets-bucks game. one of the biggest rivalries is the patri-i don't think so about to play. tom braid facing the fact he has

lost a lot of key receivers includingarian hernandez. what can we expect from that game? >> >> reporter: that's a good point. as far as the patriots are concerned, this has been an ongoing search for brady, finding more play makers. no hern andez and no wes welker. that record setting perform applications by payton manning. tom brady looking to find new offensive play makers. the patriots signed danny amandola. as far as the bills are concerned, they are very high on rookie quarterback e.j. manual. he will make his first start today against the patriots. several games that are a bit intriguing around the league. one of those, falcons and saints. it is likely to be a very emotional day in new orleans. saints head coach sean peyton after a year suspension. they staggered without him.

sean payton, with the falcons. they went to the championship game. they are in town today. another match-up, green bay and aaron rogers to face the 49ers. remember the 49ers behind quarterback colin capernick before losing to the ravens. packers and '9ers out west. the giants in dallas later on tonight, the cowboys and the giants obviously a big nfc east rifflery but the giants have beaten the cowboys all four times since the new stadium was built in dallas. it will be interesting to see tonight if the giants can make that string extends to five straight wings on the road in the new stadium or if dallas can finally, get one in the books at home against the g-men. >> mark morgan, thank you very much. tomorrow, there is the monday night game with rgiiii. tiny millions small enough to fit into a water bubble in

particles that assemble into working products sounds like science fiction. it's not. it's not straight ahead either. al jazeera kristen saloomey has more. >> these scientists may look ready to walk on the moon, but they are exploring another frontier at the atomic level. the university of albany's college of nanoscale science and engineering is at the forefront of nanotechnology research and development, a science that's not just about exploring nature but, also, changing it once you make matter small enough t changes properties. and we have just begun to explore what we can do with particles that are so small tal of the sudden new properties appear. >> to develop faster, more energy-efficient computers. one of the unique things about this facility is that you have leading companies in the computer chip industry, fierce

competitors in the global marketplace working side-by-side. not only are they sharing their equipment but they are also sharing ideas. the practical uses of nanotechnology are endless. students at the college are studying fapharmaceutical applications, from treating glaucoma to preventing tooth decay. smaller more efficient solar panels are in the works here. >> you could imagine these on the roof of your car. >> yeah. >> as these things become smaller and smaller can they become more flexible. they become lighter. but the performance is as good or better than what you get from the old-fashion big glass panels. >> design firm, eyp, is one of the college, more than 300 corporate partners. they are already incorporating nanotechnology into their buildings. >> if we don't know what's going to be on the market in three years, we might not be designing the building to accommodate that. so, for us to be here, we

understand what might be coming two, three, four years from now and we can begin to anticipate those things as we design our buildings. >> new york state officials have referred to the center as a model for economic development. a big boast as it pushes the boundaries of the world's tiniest technology. kristen saloomey, al jazeera, albany, new york. there is word of a rather cool rescue mission out of alaska and these pictures show how cool it was. on wednesday, a team of geologist got stranded on an alaskan volcano when their helicopter blades iced over. they spent two nights waiting for help t doing fine, although a bit chilly. >> thank you for watch can. more news at the top of the hour. creating an o assess in the jordanian desert. we col to follow what's coming out of syria. track us 24 hours a day at

aljazeera.com for the news that never stops. i'm amanda purr row. >> i'm in the jordan valley looking at how simple principles are bringing the desert to life. >> i'm in new york, where